Published: Friday, May 24, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 5:28 p.m.

Farmers depend on ample rain for their livelihoods, but county sod, corn and apple farmers say Mother Nature has provided too much of a good thing this spring.

Facts

By the numbers

29.08

Year-to-date inches of rainfall recorded at Asheville Regional Airport.

18.25

Normal number of inches of rainfall for this period.

7.74

May rainfall to date.

3.66

Normal number of inches of May rainfall.

“My granddad always told me, ‘A dry year will scare you to death, but a wet year will starve you to death,'” said Jason Davis, who farms corn and vegetables at North River Farms in Mills River.

More than 29 inches of rain has fallen at Asheville Regional Airport so far this year, almost 11 inches more than normal, according to the National Weather Service. About 7.7 inches has already fallen in May, said NWS Meteorologist Lauren Visin, “which is way above average.”

This spring's cool and wet conditions have made life challenging for corn farmers planting their crops, apple growers pollinating their orchards and sod producers whose riverside fields have been inundated by floodwaters.

“Water is a good thing when you need it,” said Fred Pittillo of Turf Mountain Sod in Edneyville. “Too much of it when you don't need it is not a good thing.”

Soggy sod

Pittillo said the same rich floodplain soils that make the French Broad Valley ripe for sod production makes farming challenging when the river overflows into his fields.

“It washes debris and some silt onto your grass and you have to get it off,” he said. “And if enough silt gets on it, you can't harvest it. Some of the more flood-prone areas have flooded a lot this year, especially along the French Broad River.”

Like most businesses, sod farming suffered during the recession as home builders, golf courses and commercial developers stopped laying grass. Pittillo — who reduced his sod acreage from roughly 1,500 acres to 600 and started growing more soybeans — said the market seems to be improving, but the wet conditions haven't made things easy on suppliers.

The waters have receded enough to keep sod supplies rolling for now, said Dave Shaffer, farm manager for Super Sod in Mills River. The company only lost a small percentage of grass to flooding, he said, and workers were able to start cutting sod from higher ground while other areas dry out.

About 70 percent of the 700 acres farmed by Super Sod in Henderson County is in the French Broad floodplain, Shaffer estimated.

“With the flooding, what has really hurt us is getting other grounds ready to make sod,” Shaffer said. “Land is expensive, the crop is expensive, and it's tough to guess the market. Right now, the market is in high demand and our supply is good right now. But we're not able to get ground ready for future months and future years. That's been the highest stress for me.”

Corn will arrive later

Sweet corn farmers typically do three plantings throughout the season, said County Extension Director Marvin Owings Jr. This spring's colder, wetter weather has cut that down to two.

“Because it's been so wet, it's been difficult to get into the fields with their heavy equipment and plant,” Owings said. “Also, there have been some areas where the rivers have gotten out of the main streambanks and they've flooded their fields.”

The early corn planted in April was about “an inch or two high” when it drowned in low-lying places, Davis said. Typically, sweet corn planted between April 20 and 30 comes in around the Fourth of July. Thanks to the delayed planting schedule, consumers won't find locally grown sweet corn until August this year; ditto for tomatoes and peppers.

“Everything is going to be late because of the rain,” said Davis, who advised local tailgate shoppers not to panic. “They're going to be there, and it looks like we're going to have a good growing season. It's just going to be later than usual.”

The buzz is off

In contrast to last year's frost damage, this season's apple crop looks like it's going to be “very good,” Owings said. But the cool and wet weather prevented honeybees from getting out into orchards as they normally would, reducing pollination already hurt by a bee shortage.

“It was not a good season for adequate pollination,” Owings said.

A type of fungus called Nosema apis — which lives in the guts of domestic honeybees — can cause dysentery when bees are cooped up in their hives for long periods, Owings said. He said local beekeepers lost about half of their hives over the winter due to disease.

An abundance of wild bees helped pollinate orchards last season, he said, but “they are very short this year. Where growers brought (domestic) bees in, we've got a good fruit set and in some cases they're having to chemically thin fruit off. But in some orchards where bees weren't brought in for pollination, some of that fruit is coming off (due to poor fertilization.)”

<p>Farmers depend on ample rain for their livelihoods, but county sod, corn and apple farmers say Mother Nature has provided too much of a good thing this spring.</p><p>“My granddad always told me, 'A dry year will scare you to death, but a wet year will starve you to death,'” said Jason Davis, who farms corn and vegetables at North River Farms in Mills River. </p><p>More than 29 inches of rain has fallen at Asheville Regional Airport so far this year, almost 11 inches more than normal, according to the National Weather Service. About 7.7 inches has already fallen in May, said NWS Meteorologist Lauren Visin, “which is way above average.” </p><p>This spring's cool and wet conditions have made life challenging for corn farmers planting their crops, apple growers pollinating their orchards and sod producers whose riverside fields have been inundated by floodwaters.</p><p>“Water is a good thing when you need it,” said Fred Pittillo of Turf Mountain Sod in Edneyville. “Too much of it when you don't need it is not a good thing.”</p><p>Soggy sod</p><p>Pittillo said the same rich floodplain soils that make the French Broad Valley ripe for sod production makes farming challenging when the river overflows into his fields.</p><p>“It washes debris and some silt onto your grass and you have to get it off,” he said. “And if enough silt gets on it, you can't harvest it. Some of the more flood-prone areas have flooded a lot this year, especially along the French Broad River.”</p><p>Like most businesses, sod farming suffered during the recession as home builders, golf courses and commercial developers stopped laying grass. Pittillo — who reduced his sod acreage from roughly 1,500 acres to 600 and started growing more soybeans — said the market seems to be improving, but the wet conditions haven't made things easy on suppliers.</p><p>The waters have receded enough to keep sod supplies rolling for now, said Dave Shaffer, farm manager for Super Sod in Mills River. The company only lost a small percentage of grass to flooding, he said, and workers were able to start cutting sod from higher ground while other areas dry out.</p><p>About 70 percent of the 700 acres farmed by Super Sod in Henderson County is in the French Broad floodplain, Shaffer estimated. </p><p>“With the flooding, what has really hurt us is getting other grounds ready to make sod,” Shaffer said. “Land is expensive, the crop is expensive, and it's tough to guess the market. Right now, the market is in high demand and our supply is good right now. But we're not able to get ground ready for future months and future years. That's been the highest stress for me.”</p><p>Corn will arrive later</p><p>Sweet corn farmers typically do three plantings throughout the season, said County Extension Director Marvin Owings Jr. This spring's colder, wetter weather has cut that down to two.</p><p>“Because it's been so wet, it's been difficult to get into the fields with their heavy equipment and plant,” Owings said. “Also, there have been some areas where the rivers have gotten out of the main streambanks and they've flooded their fields.”</p><p>The early corn planted in April was about “an inch or two high” when it drowned in low-lying places, Davis said. Typically, sweet corn planted between April 20 and 30 comes in around the Fourth of July. Thanks to the delayed planting schedule, consumers won't find locally grown sweet corn until August this year; ditto for tomatoes and peppers. </p><p>“Everything is going to be late because of the rain,” said Davis, who advised local tailgate shoppers not to panic. “They're going to be there, and it looks like we're going to have a good growing season. It's just going to be later than usual.”</p><p>The buzz is off</p><p>In contrast to last year's frost damage, this season's apple crop looks like it's going to be “very good,” Owings said. But the cool and wet weather prevented honeybees from getting out into orchards as they normally would, reducing pollination already hurt by a bee shortage.</p><p>“It was not a good season for adequate pollination,” Owings said. </p><p>A type of fungus called Nosema apis — which lives in the guts of domestic honeybees — can cause dysentery when bees are cooped up in their hives for long periods, Owings said. He said local beekeepers lost about half of their hives over the winter due to disease. </p><p>An abundance of wild bees helped pollinate orchards last season, he said, but “they are very short this year. Where growers brought (domestic) bees in, we've got a good fruit set and in some cases they're having to chemically thin fruit off. But in some orchards where bees weren't brought in for pollination, some of that fruit is coming off (due to poor fertilization.)”</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>